musing

A coffee shop regular was telling me about how humans are the only animals that (conceivably) sit around wondering about things. He said the word "wonder" comes from a Latin word that means something like "mirror" or "reflection." I didn't check any of this but I like the idea. We wonder and that sounds kind of aimless but really wondering is an action: a self reflecting self. Self reflection is an odd concept. We use props to self-reflect: experiences, memories, other people, places. People use the ocean. They sit on rocks and stare and reflect. Music helps. Things recall other things and we aren't necessarily moving but our brain is leaping and whatever it is that is our soul is also doing something.

Anyway. I'm working on my application for the writer residency in Nevada and reflecting on how events come in threes: A cop was shot last night at a motel just down from M's house and, this morning, a man was hit by a car downtown and died. Across the river, several days ago, M. was saying, a man picked up a hatchet and slaughtered his sons.

Tiffany and I talked last night about how discouraging a writing career can be. Most of the time we sit around wondering if we're crazy. Turns out writing means you just have to keep writing no matter how much time it feels like you're wasting. Stephen King said you write and write and sometimes you accomplish something but you don't always realize it and if you do realize it, you probably have no idea how you did it. So every day is starting over anew, maybe.

Now I'm going to work.